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Letters to Gibson: Seven Months

Didn’t I just hit the publish button on your six month letter? Now that the summer is over, it’s like time has sped up. And you are just growing like a weed which adds to the sense of time flying by.

Additionally, your calendar is filling up! We’re halfway through our third six-week session of swim classes (and you are doing so well!) You still go to Storytime at the library with your dad once a week. And we are getting in two or so trips a month to Storyville with your Auntie Kirsten (and soon to be on the outside, baby Estelle!) And let’s not forget your regular dinner time visits from your Auntie Viva and Auntie Sarah. Add in your scheduled well baby doctor’s appointments and pretty soon, I’ll have to buy a second planner just to keep up with all your social commitments.

Now that you’re a little older, I’ve been taking you to more events with me. You attended your first baby shower last weekend.

You were helping by pushing the gifts closer to Auntie Kirsten.

And this weekend you’ll go to a house warming/ birthday party for your buddy, Annabelle.

I don’t know what secrets you two were sharing, but you hit it off!

And depending on your temperament this weekend, I’m considering taking you to your first belly dance event. As much as you love staring at women’s faces, I can’t imagine you’d have a problem watching beautiful people dancing. Your Dad is going to be out of town on a DJ gig, so we have the whole weekend to ourselves. Why not spend it at parties and haflas?

Plus, Halloween is coming up! I’m so excited to dress you up and show you off. Of course, your Aunt Amanda wants to dress you like a little fox. Certainly not a bad idea. Though your father and I are thinking we might indulge in a family costume. Maybe by next year, you can tell us what you’d like to dress up as for Halloween. But this year, your first Halloween, it’s all up to us. You’ll be the cutest savior of mankind from the machines ever!

And how do you like that “school picture” up there at the top of this post? Your father just couldn’t stand to leave our nice family portraits alone. So he threw in the 1990’s laser background that every school photographer used during our childhood. Then there’s the small issue that your face is now in the picture twice. Creepy! Happy Halloween, I guess.

Oh! So let’s talk stats. You are officially 19.5 pounds and 27 inches long! That’s a gain of 4 lbs and 3 inches in two months! Growing like a weed!!! You’re in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Your head size (45 cm) is still in the 25th percentile. I think you may be blessed/cursed with your mother’s small-ish head. I have to wear child-sized bike helmets at age 32. But I can always rock a hat, and so will you!

Last night, I put you in your crib to go to sleep for the night. And while you finished your bottle, I read to you like I usually do. But thanks to a short, late afternoon nap you were a little more awake than usual. So I grabbed another book that was a little longer than Nighty-Night. For the first time we read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This was one of my favorite books as a child. When I was still in my single digit days, I was often frustrated and angry. Just like Alexander.

And if I recall correctly, my mother gave me this book to help me understand that everyone has bad days (not just self-centered little me.) She wanted me to know that it’s okay to be angry. I think it was a special thing between just the two of us- not involving my baby sister. 🙂

So when I reached the last pages of the book, and Alexander tells us that his mother says everyone has bad days, I got choked up. I must have read that page a thousand times as a child, but last night the implications hit me so hard. How many times did my mother read the book to me and finish with “even in Australia” before giving me a kiss goodnight? Probably a million and a half times. It would have been really nice if she could have read the book to you. I miss her.

You looked so much bigger last night as you held your own bottle and drank contentedly. Your hair has grown so long I can no longer keep it in the faux-mohawk style your father and I prefer. Just like you, your hair has a mind of its own. With your hair laying down in a more conventional style, you look older. You are older. Thank goodness for footie pajamas, or I’d never be able to maintain the illusion that you’re still a tiny baby. Even as you reach milestone after milestone.

You can now string your rolls together in order to move around the room. Back to belly, belly to back, back to belly and BAM- you’ve grabbed the soda bottle. You’ve started using your head and shoulder to inch yourself toward toys and books you want. I’m sure the moment I blink, you’ll be up on all fours and crawling away from me. Don’t get me started on how skilled you are in that walker of yours. I need two new baby gates to keep you corralled in the kitchen.

In short, you’re developing perfectly on schedule. You’re healthy and mostly happy when you’re not teething. You’re enjoying more solid foods, and I’m finally learning how to schedule our time so we both accomplish what we need to do in a day. It certainly helps that your mobility lets you entertain yourself for short stretches while I make a quick dinner for myself and thaw out your pureed foods. You enjoy being in the car (usually) and seeing new things. You and I go out for an hour or so every afternoon so you’re not stuck in the house all day. Though I will say you really don’t see the point in letting Mom try on clothes at a store. If my top is coming off, it better be to feed you it seems.

I know it’s still five months away, but I’m already thinking about your first birthday. How big you will be. How much you’ll have grown. Everything you have already learned to do and will learn to do. Yesterday you took the spoon away from me and attempted to feed yourself pureed zucchini. Next thing I know, I’ll walk into your room to find you out of your crib, completely dressed and telling me to get a move on because we have equestrian lessons that morning. What will I do then? I guess, I’ll just continue to follow your lead.